


Words Over Song

by DestinedAtMidnight



Category: Midnight Cinderella (Video Game)
Genre: Basically a feel-good fic that I hope you'll enjoy, Crack and Angst, First Meetings, How Louis and Lucia first met
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 19:36:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinedAtMidnight/pseuds/DestinedAtMidnight
Summary: For the past few days Louis has been woken up by horrible singing. Finally having enough, he shouts at the bird to stop, only for the bird to turn around and shout back.





	Words Over Song

It all started around one week ago, when Louis had to travel to the south of Wysteria to visit an orphanage, as per Duke Arden’s request. Upon returning late the next day, he spent the evening as one normally would do before retiring for the night.

The next morning, he was awoken to the sound of chirping. As pleasant as the notion sounds, this one bird was producing some of the most painful sounds Louis had ever heard in his life. Walking up to the window, he opened it, perhaps sharper than he needed to do, searching for the offender. Squinting again the sunlight, he was just about able to make out the shape of a bird flying away. I must have scared it away, he thought, only feeling a bit guilty as he went back to bed.

Duke Howard was not a morning person.

The next day, the same events transpired as though it were following a script, only this time the blonde managed to catch a glimpse of the blue plumage flying away. The following morning, Louis had early meeting, and had no time to chance the bird away. Afterwards, he decided to take a stroll in the gardens, where he happened to come across a certain bird perched outside a his window.

Brow furrowed in annoyance, Louis couldn’t help letting out a loud sigh. “Little bird, you really are a nuisance,” he spoke up the creature. He could have sworn that it stared right back.

After enduring two more days of early morning torture, Louis had had enough. Throwing back his covers as dawn broke through the sky, he slammed the shutters open. Taking in a deep breath of the crisp air, he opened his mouth, “would you please be quiet?!” He glared at the small bird as it turned it’s head toward him, head throbbing from the pain the sunlight in his eyes was giving him.

“I bed your pardon!” A light voice yelled, the sound coming straight from the depths of the bird’s yellow beak. Eyes as wide as blue as the sky above, Louis gasped, taking two clear steps away from the source of the voice.

“You… can speak?” He refused to believe what his ears were telling him. Birds could not talk like humans could, and that was a fact.

“Well, yes of course,” she replied, “I’m not like most birds, you know.”

“Y- yes, I can see that…” the blonde continued to stare. Mind still foggy from sleep, he slowly walked towards his window.

Ruffling her feathers, she spoke, “I’m a bird, not a wolf, no need to be so cautious.” Louis couldn’t help but let out a scoff at that. She’s right, he thought tilting his head in amusement.

“So... you can speak like a human,” he repeated himself, “but you cannot sing like a bird... why is that?”

“Excuse me, sir,” the bird almost looked upset, not that Louis could tell. “It’s cold so of course my voice won’t sound as nice as it normally does.” Nodding his head in understanding, Louis took a step back and gestured inside.

“Well, please feel free to come in since it’s so cold outside.” He offered, partly because it was cold and, contrary to popular belief, he was not heartless, but also because he did feel bad for shouting at the bird. It was something he had never done before and if he were honest it bothered him that he acted in such a way.

However, the bird refused to move, remaining on the tree, gazing blankly into the room. “I’m offering you warmth, please let me atone for my behaviour,” that seemed to do it, and the bird flapped gently into the room.

“Thank you for your kindness, my name is Lucia, by the way,” she introduced herself.

“… Louis,” he replied simply, unsure of how to carry on. At that moment, there was a knock on the door from his butler, calling him for a meeting. So without saying another word, he left the room.

Having more work to do than expected, Louis returned to his room late at night. Upon arriving, he was surprised to see Lucia still there. “Good evening, Louis,” she greeted him amiably, chirping lightly.

“Lucia, are you well?” The question fell naturally from his lips. Seeing as the bird had nothing to gain from being close to him, unlike those noblewomen he had to meet earlier that day, Louis found it easier to relax.

"Yes, thank you. And thank you again for your kindness, I will take my leave now, I don’t want to disturb your time of rest.” And with that, Lucia shyly fluttered out of the window.

Days went by and Louis let Lucia stay in his room during the day. Slowly, they became a lot close to each other, confining in each other. One day however, he returned to his room before dinner and saw that she wasn’t there. Immediately worried, he wondered where she could have gone. Deciding to wait until after dinner just in case, he left, a small v forming between his brows.

Returning from the dining room, he strolled quickly through the corridors when he heard the voices of two maids from around the corner. “I can’t believe there was a bird in Duke Howard’s room!” One of them exclaimed.

“I know! It’s a good thing that we chased it out quickly.”

“I still can’t believe you threw something at it, though, wasn’t that too much?” She spoke hesitantly

The other let out a scoff, “that scruffy thing? What else would I do?”

Mortified, Louis stood rooted to the spot, before hastily changing direction and running into the garden. Heading to the tree, he narrowed his eyes in the dark, gaze falling on a small creature laying twisted on the ground. “Lucia!” He cried, falling to his knees to gently cradle her in his hands.

"Lucia, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know, are you okay?” The words spilled from his mouth as he headed to the front of the Howard mansion, catching the attention of one of the valets, demanding that they immediately get a carriage ready.

It’s a good thing I found her in time, he thanked the stars for his small stroke of good luck, before speaking softly at the bird in his hands. “Lucia? No- please don’t struggle too much, I’m going to take you to someone who can have a look at you and make you better.”

Although the coachman was fast, the ride dragged out far too long for Louis’ liking. Once they reached their destination, Louis saw to it that the veterinarian was fittingly paid for his services so late at night, and returned home after making a small detour...

Back in his room, Louis called for the two maids that has chased Lucia out of the room while having someone else assemble the cage that he had bought. “Thank you, Louis,” a soft voice reached his ears once the maids had left after apologising to the bird. Those were the first words she had spoken all night.

The blonde merely shook his head, “of course, you’ve become a dear friend to me over the past few weeks. I’m glad you agreed to officially staying with me inside from now on, where you’re more safe.”

The next morning, Lucia’s sweet voice woke him from his slumber. Rubbing his eyes against the early sun, he spoke in a hoarse voice, “you sound a lot better than normal.” She simply hummed a reply before carrying on.

The two continued to spend time together, Louis using his own hands and his own time to keep her cage clean and feathers groomed. After that incident, Lucia didn’t speak much, but Duke Howard was a man of few words himself, so he didn’t mind the development.

One evening, just as Louis had finished brushing Lucia’s feathers, she spoke up suddenly. “You’ve always taken such good care of me, thank you,” she began. “I hope my song voice can entertain you and relax you. I hope it can heal you like you healed me, and that we remain friends forever.”

“... of course, Lucia,” Louis spoke, slightly concerned by her words, but chose not to say anything. Covered in a blanket of silence, Louis placed a cloth over her cage, before laying under the burrows of his bed. In the quiet of the night, Lucia whispered out a quiet, “goodnight Louis,” before resigning herself to sleep.

The next morning, Louis was awoken to the sound of chirping. As ‘pleasant’ as the notion sounds, this one bird was producing some of the most beautiful sounds Louis has ever heard in his life. Walking up to the cage, he uncovered it, eyes landing on the offender.

The final few notes rung in the air as she slowly finished her song and all Louis could do was watch, dumbstruck. “That was wonderful, Lucia,” he said, astonished, “I didn’t know you could sing that well.” She didn’t reply, merely stared at him. Open up the door of her cage so that she could get out, he asked, “are you feeling okay?” Without saying a word, she fluttered up to his shoulder, giving his cheek an affectionate rub before flying out of the window.

The next few days continued like this, Lucia could now sing brilliantly without any trouble, but she still refused to talk. Then came the day when Louis was invited back to the orphanage in the south of the country again.

At the orphanage, he sat down with the children holding a book which they had all begged him read. It was called The Songbird. As he read, he was filled with a painful feeling of déjà vu. The book told the tale of a young girl and her pet bird. This bird could talk, but could not sing. Overtime, it became very close to the human girl and as time passed, it’s singing drastically improved, but the talking lessened. One day, the bird stopped talking all together, but had learnt to sing beautifully.

“The reason why it stopped talking-” just as Louis was reaching the part of the book that interested him the most, Duke Arden called out to him, saying that the staff needed to get the children ready for dinner. So instead of deciding to stay overnight at the orphanage like last time, Louis headed straight home to return to Lucia, a million questions swirling through his mind.

Once he was in his room, Louis walked up to the blue bird in the gold cage. “Lucia,” he began before stopping short. “I- I read a story to the children at an orphanage today,” his voice shook ever so slightly, but he ignored it. “It was a story about a bird that could talk, but not sing.”

Lucia let out a light chirp, almost as if she was encouraging him to continue. Louis carried on, “the bird’s singing got better over time... but it’s ability to talk got worse- is this what happened to you?” He demanded, causing Lucia to give a gentle nod from within her cage.

Biting his lip harshly, he said, “so you can still understand me,” which elicited another nod of the head from the songbird. Is was then that Louis felt a coolness on his cheeks. Tears. When was the last time Duke Howard had cried?

“But why? You can’t speak now, it’s my fault.” As he looked down in despair, there was the sound of frantic flapping from the cage. Looking up, Louis saw Lucia struggling against the door. Opening the door, she immediately flew to his shoulder, burying herself playfully inside his collar.

Letting out a soft sign. Gaining control over his emotions, Louis asked, “did you know this would happen?” A bob of the head. “But you still did it?” Another nod. Louis didn’t understand, why would she give up her skill of talking just so she could sing? Questions led to more questions.

“Do you really not mind that you can’t speak?” To which she resolutely shook her head, leaning her head up to press her beak against his cheek, a semblance of a kiss, before flying over to his bed. Looking at him expectantly, Lucia waited until Louis was laying under his duvet. That night, Lucia sung a bittersweet song, her voice flowing around the room, perfectly blending in with the mood of the evening.

The next day, Duke Arden came to visit the Howard mansion. Getting straight to the point, he handed a book over to Louis, a warm smile on his face. “You left so quickly, the children missed you this morning. They wanted me to give you this, said they wanted you to come and visit them again soon so you could finish the book with them.”

It was that book, the book of the songbird. Putting off the remainder of his duties for that day, he rushed to his room, knowing exactly who he wanted to read the ending with.

Sitting against the window, with Lucia perched on his shoulder, he turned to where he had left off the previous day. With hardly any pages left to go, he let his voice diminish the silence of the room. “The reason why it stopped talking, was because the bird loved their friend. It wanted to sing to her everyday, to repay her for her kindness, because they were friends. Everyday, for the rest of their lives, all the time they spent together as friends, the bird gladly returned the girls love with songs. Yes, it couldn’t talk, but it could understand, and they remained friends forever...”

Looking up after closing the colourful book, he reached up and stroked her perfectly-groomed plumage.

“Thank you, Lucia. You are a dear friend to me and I cherish you so much.” Louis smiled as she lightly nipped his jawbone. Sitting in the sunlight, Louis Howard smiled, as he revelled in the fact that this friendship was one that would last a lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic at midnight before an exam lolol after seeing a prompt on Tumblr. I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know~
> 
> \- Widzz (follow me on Tumblr: @destinedatmidnight to make requests, talk, or for general updates on Otome)
> 
> (I do not owe these characters, they belong to Cybird. This is for entertainment purposes only)


End file.
